Salesforce Roundtable Covid-19

Salesforce Roundtable: Covid-19 Listen to some of the brightest minds within the Salesforce ecosystem talk about the impact of Covid-19 on them, how they are utilising their time during lockdown and predictions on what the future of Salesforce may look like. Also they give tips on how you can utilise your time for when you are backing looking for Salesforce jobs after the lockdown is lifted.   Lee Durrant: So, hi, guys. Thanks for joining us. We're obviously humbled that you gave us your time, and we're really grateful for that, so thank you very much. I guess we'll pick one and we'll just go for some introductions if that's all right? Lee: So, Vera, as you're top on our screen, would you like to introduce yourself first? Vera Loftis: Absolutely. Hi. Vera Loftis, I run the Capita Salesforce practise, but I've been in the ecosystem for over a decade now. So many, many different forms, but always Salesforce focused. Theresa: Thank you. We've got Simon. Do you want to go ahead? Simon Thompson: Yeah, thank you. Yeah. Simon Thompson, CEO and co-founder of Improved Apps. I've been working around the Salesforce ecosystem for 13 years, since 2007. I worked at Salesforce for six of those years before founding Improved Apps. And we're helping customers drive adoption of Salesforce. Theresa: Lovely. Thank you. Lee: Gemma do you want to go next? Gemma Blezard: Sure. Gemma Blezard. I founded Ladies Be Architects during my time at Bluewolf, when I was working with Vera. Recently broken away to start my own advisory consultancy business, focusing on architects. And I've been working with Salesforce for 12 years. Theresa: Fantastic. And then we've got Toby. Toby Heath: Hi there. Hi everyone. My name is Tony Heath. I've recently been working at Heathrow, previous to that it was Gatwick, and previous to that was a company called SITA who were based out in Geneva. I've been working in the Salesforce space for about eight years now, on and off in different guises. Yeah, that's me really. Theresa: Thank you. Lee: Brilliant. Thank you. And last but not least, Penny and your Muppet. Do you mind introducing yourself? Penny: Yeah. Hi guys. Yeah, my colleague. Times are getting desperate for colleagues. So I'm Penny, I'm the Chief Operating Officer of Pracedo, and like the other guys, I've been around doing Salesforce for ages, so about 12 or 13 years, and I've been the customer at other consultancies and the ISVs, so a little bit of most of the space. Theresa: Fantastic. Thank you very much guys. Lee: Yeah, okay. Well we'll just dive straight in. I know I sent you some questions that we're curious about, and obviously I want to thank you all for doing this and thanks to Gemma as well for being there when the idea hit us both. We thought it'd be a good idea then just go through some questions about how you're all handling the current situation and obviously what you think might happen in the future, so that people can hopefully see some light at the end of the tunnel. Lee: So the first point I think we'd like to cover, and I think I might start with... Lee: Who shall we start with, Jenny? Lee: Okay, well actually, Gemma, because your situation is quite interesting, I mean all your situations are very unique, but how has the current COVID-19 situation affected you in that you've just started a new business, and all that sort of stuff? Gemma Blezard: Sure. It's been interesting because the conversations I've been having have varied in that regard. So I started up the consultancy in October and began the year full of optimism around, come March, we'll start building all our relationships and go on a world tour. We can start getting the word out and everybody's going to be kicking off digital transformations and we know we're needed, et cetera. Nobody could have predicted this in any way at all I think. So I'll be honest,